In October we hosted our first party at our new home. It was so much fun getting to do this for my sweet sis-in-law, Charis, who was due in November. Charis' sister spearheaded the whole party and did the beautiful decorations and J helped me with the food. And of course, he had a blast helping me figure out the menu and cooking. (I seriously have the best husband ever!)

Kelsy had suggested a floral brunch, so we immediately had all kinds of ideas for the menu. I'm fairly certain we cut like 10 or 12 items 3 or 4 items we had wanted to serve, just so that we weren't swimming in food.

Yes, it was so much fun entertaining and getting to put out some yummy food. And it was even more fun getting to spoil Charis and celebrate with her and her little family on their impending arrival. We definitely hope we can have more fun events at our home.

We've been in the house for almost a year now. And one of the few rooms that actually is essentially done is my office. J has allowed me to prioritize it decorating-wise since I spend a majority of my time in there. It has definitely been such an upgrade from my previous "offices". I've previously had to turn bedrooms into my office. Having a dedicated space that is just mine, and that I can leave and ignore when I'm not working is so nice.

When we chose our floor plan, I knew that I was going to want built-in cabinetry and a floating desk, so we pushed out the wall by a foot. Which was a plus all-around since it enlarged our master bedroom, bathroom, shower room and closet! :) Umm, yes please!

I still am slowly adding knick-knacks to my bookshelves and desk space, and I definitely want to add a linen upholstered desk chair. But other than that, I've pretty much completed the decorating in the office.

Since there is not a room above my office, we decided to give the office a bigger feeling by removing the ten-foot ceiling and making it a cathedral ceiling with a cedar beam.

And one huge plus of having the custom built-in cabinets was being able to be very picky on the desk set up. I hate having ugly, necessary things in view. So, I requested rollout shelves that fit my laptop and dock and the printer. We made sure to have outlets built inside the cabinets and a large drawer that could accommodate hanging file folders, should I ever need them. Then, I had them make the cutout for cords go straight into the cabinet so that they're as invisible as possible!

Oh my! Where has the time gone? My little man is over a year old and it's already 2015. Since it's been a while, there may be a couple look backs over the exciting things that happened in 2014. I've finally found the time to sit down and write!

One of the first things I had to share was our fun day celebrating AP's big birthday. First of all, December birthday parties are difficult to figure out. Between holiday plans, company Christmas parties and people being out of town, it's hard to figure out a time that works where all the loved ones can be there. But, we figured out a good day, so we were off to a good start!

I decided to go with a black, white and brown theme. I figured I would go for a classy, modern vibe this time, since I'm sure I am destined for plenty of super hero, train, and cartoon parties in the future.

The menu had a Chili Bar. We had mini corn muffins, baked potatoes, Fritos and hot dogs as the options for what to put your chili on. Then for sides we had baked beans and J's famous potato salad. For dessert, we had a Sweetheart Trifle, Reese's Cupcakes, a Naked Yellow Chocolate Chip Cake and a sweets bar. I ordered these kraft food trays on Etsy that were so fun to use as dishes, and definitely made the clean up a lot nicer!

It was so much fun having our family and close friends with us. And the cousins had a blast helping AP open his birthday presents! Can't wait to celebrate many, many more birthdays with our favorite little guy!!